We have shifted from Hiroshima to Osaka on the bullet train and most of us are feeling a bit tired so the plan in Osaka is to take things at a more leisurely pace, get up late, long breakfast, one attraction then rest for afternoon.
The first day, we visited Osaka Castle, which was quite magnificent. More impressive than Nijo Castle in Kyoto, but also much more crowded. Nijo was easier to navigate and gave you a good feel for the day to day functioning of the castle. Osaka was more about the wars that took place and didn’t seem to have much of the living quarters left. We were lucky to get to the castle early, since as we left the queues were huge to get in.
From the top of tier of the castle you got to look all around Osaka, and we were also able to see a flowering garden just to the side.
As we walked to the garden, we saw these adorable school groups going into the castle. They we all dressed immaculately in their uniforms and just looked so cute. Inside the garden we came across this lovely couple who were having their pre-wedding photos taken. This is obviously a tradition in Asian countries since I have a friend in China who did the same thing. We also saw a couple at the aqueduct in Kyoto having their pre wedding photos taken.
The next day the girls went shopping and the boys went to the Kuchu Teien observatory. Merv was very interested in the architecture of the building and it was impressive. You start by taking an elevator up to where the escalators start (you can see them on the internal open section in the first photo). The elevators are on the outside of the building and made of glass, so you get a great view, or a great scare if you are Acrophobic. Taking the elevator, you can get to the top part that joins the two towers. You can do all this for free, but if you want to go up the last 10m to the top, outside, section, you have to pay $13. We were happy with the views we got from the free level, and as you can see from Shaun relaxing, the windows were easily big enough to give you a good view.
This was all we did today before resting up for the Executive Lounge at 4pm and then out for our last dinner. We fly out to Perth tomorrow afternoon.
